![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/How-to-draw-eyes-11_4.jpg\")
This is hands down the most requested tutorial to date. It’s a long one too!<\/p>\nThis is hands down the most requested tutorial to date. It’s a long one too!<\/p>\n
Tools I used:<\/strong><\/p>\n This is a long tutorial and I tried to keep it short, so if you get stuck anywhere, please watch the video version (linked at the bottom of this tutorial) or let me know and I’ll try to explain it better or add examples :)<\/p>\n Using an HB pencil, draw 2 light ticks spaced well apart. This will determine the size of the first eye.<\/p>\n Use a ruler to draw a horizontal line through the ticks and extend it to the far right side of your sketchbook.<\/p>\n Measure the distance between the 2 ticks and triplicate it across the horizontal line so you end up with 3 equal spaces.<\/p>\n Not sure how to do this? Check out the video to watch me do it.<\/p>\n In the left and right spaces, draw 2 circles similar in size. Make sure the circles are large enough to fill the space.<\/p>\n Eyes are usually a little slanted. Use a ruler or draw a line freehandedly across each circle at an angle.<\/p>\n Erase the horizontal line to keep your drawing space clean.<\/p>\n Draw the inner corner of each eye where the circles and slanted lines intersect.<\/p>\n Draw the upper eyelid while staying within the circle.<\/p>\n Draw the lower eyelid but avoid drawing a flat line. Put a little curve into it so it looks more realistic.<\/p>\n Let’s draw the\u00a0upper crease now.\u00a0Start from the inner corner and work your way out towards the tail of the eye. You can use the shape of the top lid for guidance. If you want a more detailed tutorial on drawing eye shapes, click here to learn how to draw 8 different eye shapes.<\/a><\/p>\n Starting above the circle, use the Shadowlining technique<\/a> to outline the eyebrows. Shadowlining prevents your outlines from showing through in your final work. Want more guidance on drawing eyebrows? Visit this detailed eyebrow tutorial<\/a>.<\/p>\n Now erase all your guidelines to get ready for the next step!<\/p>\n Very lightly draw an iris in each eye using an HB pencil. The iris should take up about 2\/4’s of the eyeball horizontally like the examples below:<\/p>\n Your measurement should start from the tear duct to the outer corner of the eye.<\/p>\n To draw a perfectly circular iris, draw a full circle and then just erase the parts that fall outside the eyeball instead of drawing bracket shapes. This helps a lot when drawing narrow eyes.<\/p>\n Click here to learn how to shade a face<\/a><\/p>\n If you want a super detailed tutorial on drawing eyebrows, check out this tutorial<\/a>.<\/p>\n This is a really long step because I tried to include as much detail as possible haha. Stick with me guys!<\/p>\n Draw a small\u00a0circle (pupil) in the center of each iris. Draw a rectangle (or any shape you want) in or touching the iris. This is the reflection of light from a bright window. Curve the sides of the rectangle to make it look like the eyeball is spherical.<\/p>\n Use a sharp 6B pencil to shade the pupil. Try to keep your edges as clean as possible.<\/p>\n Around the pupil, draw a squiggly ribbon using an HB pencil.<\/p>\n Around concave areas, use a sharp 4B pencil to darken the ribbon to give the eye more depth.<\/p>\n From the center of the pupil to the ribbon, draw light spokes.<\/p>\n Darken spokes that fall within concave sections of the ribbon.<\/p>\n Very lightly, draw a second ribbon around the first one. Leave a thin space between them.<\/p>\n Use a dark pencil such as a 2B or 4B (up to you) to darken the ring of the iris. Then use an HB pencil to shade the section between the ribbon and ring.<\/p>\n Grab your kneaded eraser, pinch it and dab it onto your drawing. This will create white spokes.<\/p>\n Use a sharp 2B pencil to make the spokes pop! You can do this by outlining them.<\/p>\n Use a sharp 4B pencil to add more details in between those spokes.<\/p>\n Grab a blending stump and carefully blend everything but the rectangle reflection. If you don’t want to use a blending stump, use an H pencil to shade instead of blending.<\/p>\n To make the reflection really pop, shade the rest of the eyeball so the only thing that remains white is the reflection.<\/p>\n Start by shading the inner corner of each eye using an HB pencil. This area is bumpy, soft, glossy and darker than the rest.<\/p>\n Once you’re done, soften the edge around each iris using a blending stump or HB pencil.<\/p>\n After shading the eyeball as light as I could, I decided to darken the face to give the drawing more contrast.<\/p>\n Start by drawing 3 lashes per eyelid. Space them well apart. Use very light pressure just in case you need to erase anything.<\/p>\n\n
How to Draw a Pair of Realistic Eyes<\/strong><\/h1>\n
Step 1: Determine the Eye Size<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/How-to-draw-a-pair-of-eyes-1_1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/How-to-draw-a-pair-of-eyes-1_2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/How-to-draw-a-pair-of-eyes-1_3.jpg\")
<\/p>\nStep 2: Draw two Circles<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/How-to-draw-a-pair-of-eyes-2.jpg\")
<\/p>\nStep 3: Decide on an Eye Angle<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/How-to-draw-a-pair-of-eyes-3.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/How-to-draw-a-pair-of-eyes-3_2.jpg\")
<\/p>\nStep 4: Draw the Eye Shape<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/How-to-draw-a-pair-of-eyes-4_1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/How-to-draw-a-pair-of-eyes-4_2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/How-to-draw-a-pair-of-eyes-4_3.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/How-to-draw-a-pair-of-eyes-4_4.jpg\")
<\/p>\nStep 5: Shadowline the Eyebrows<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/How-to-draw-a-pair-of-eyes-5_1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/How-to-draw-a-pair-of-eyes-5_2.jpg\")
<\/p>\nStep 6: Draw the Irises<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/How-to-draw-a-pair-of-eyes-5_3-RFA.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/How-to-Draw-Eyes-Iris-Sizing-Example.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/How-to-Draw-Iris-Example.jpg\")
<\/p>\nStep 7: Shade the Face<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/How-to-draw-a-pair-of-open-eyes-6-RFA.jpg\")
Shade the face, leaving the eyeballs white. If your drawing is too light, darken it just a little before you shade or else the lines could disappear.<\/p>\nStep 8: Draw the Eyebrows<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/How-to-draw-a-pair-of-open-eyes-7_1-RFA.jpg\")
I’m using a sharp 0.5mm 4B mechanical pencil<\/a>\u00a0for this step. Starting at the bottom portion of the eyebrow, draw upward strokes. The strokes should be thickest at the base and very thin at the ends.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/How-to-draw-a-pair-of-open-eyes-7_2-RFA.jpg\")
Do the opposite for the top portion of\u00a0each eyebrow. Angle your strokes downward and use lighter strokes near the end of each eyebrow. Make sure your strokes taper at the ends instead of crossing over each other forming ‘X’ shapes.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/How-to-draw-a-pair-of-open-eyes-7_3-RFA.jpg\")
Add a row of hairs going down the center to fill in some white space.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/How-to-draw-a-pair-of-open-eyes-7_4-RFA.jpg\")
Carefully go over your strokes on the bottom to darken them.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/How-to-draw-a-pair-of-open-eyes-7_5-RFA.jpg\")
Lastly, add a light shadow by shading the area using an HB pencil.<\/p>\nStep 9:\u00a0Draw Details in the Eye<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/How-to-draw-a-pair-of-open-eyes-8_2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/How-to-draw-a-pair-of-open-eyes-8_3.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/How-to-draw-a-pair-of-open-eyes-8_4.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/How-to-draw-a-pair-of-open-eyes-8_5.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/How-to-draw-a-pair-of-open-eyes-8_6.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/How-to-draw-a-pair-of-open-eyes-8_7.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/How-to-draw-a-pair-of-open-eyes-8_8.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/How-to-draw-a-pair-of-open-eyes-8_9.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/How-to-draw-a-pair-of-open-eyes-8_10.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/How-to-draw-a-pair-of-open-eyes-8_11.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/How-to-draw-a-pair-of-open-eyes-8_12.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/How-to-draw-a-pair-of-open-eyes-8_13.jpg\")
<\/p>\nStep 10: Shade the Rest of the Eyeball<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/How-to-draw-a-pair-of-open-eyes-8_14.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/How-to-draw-a-pair-of-open-eyes-9_1.jpg\")
Shade the rest of the white space using the contouring method. If you want a more detailed tutorial on shading eyeballs, visit this tutorial<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/How-to-draw-a-pair-of-open-eyes-9_3.jpg\")
<\/p>\nStep 11: Draw the Eyelashes<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/How-to-draw-a-pair-of-open-eyes-10_1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/How-to-draw-a-pair-of-open-eyes-10_2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/How-to-draw-a-pair-of-open-eyes-10_3.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/How-to-draw-a-pair-of-open-eyes-10_4.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rapidfireart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/How-to-draw-eyes-11_3.jpg\")
<\/p>\n